Daniela Ryf’s record breaking performance saw her take victory for the fourth year running, proving herself to be one of, if not the greatest female triathlete of all time, while Patrick Lange smashed the 8 hour barrier, winning in a record time of 07:52:39.
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Kona 2018: How all the emotion and action was captured on social media
Ironman World Champs 2018: Patrick Lange is the King of Kona
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Ironman World Champs: Daniela Ryf smashes Kona record
Launch Gallery
1. 1st male overall was Patrick Lange (GER) in a time of 7:52:39, who broke his own course best set in 2017 of 8:01:40.
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2. 1st female overall was Daniela Ryf (SUI) in a time of 8:26:16: swim 57:26 (struggled with a jelly fish sting), bike 4:26:07 and run 2:57:05, breaking her own course best set in 2016 of 8:46:46.
3. The fastest male swimmer was age-grouper Jan Sibbersen in a time of 46:29, breaking the previous men’s record in Kona of 46:41 that had stood for 20 years, held by Lars Jorgensen. Jan’s bike split was 5:12:51, his run 4:26:24, for a total time of 10:37:33.
4. The fastest female swimmer was GB’s Lucy Charles in a time of 48:13. She averaged 1:15mins per 100m and in doing so set a new female course record, beating Jodi Jackson’s 1991 record of 48:43. She also finished in the overall top-10 fastest elite swim times of the day.
5. Fastest male bike split of the day was set by Cameron Wurf (AUS), a former pro cyclist and rower turned Ironman competitor. He improved his Kona record to 4:09:06 (26.98mph) from the 4:12:54 he set in 2017. His other splits were: swim 50:51; run 3:06:18, for a total time of 8:10:32.
6. Fastest female bike split of the day was set by Daniela Ryf in 4:26:07 (25:39mph), another new Kona record. The previous best time was 4:44:19, set by former time-trial specialist Karin Thürig in 2001.
7. Fastest male marathon run leg of the day came courtesy of Patrick Lange with a 2:41:32.
8. Fastest female marathon run leg of the day was set by Anne Haug 02:55:20.
9. For the first time in Kona history, the 8hr barrier was broken! Twice! First by Lange (7:52:39) and then by runner-up Bart Aernouts (BEL) in 7:56:41. His splits were: swim 54:07; bike 4:12:26; run 2:45:42.
10. Daniela Ryf came 25th overall beating 21 male pros; Lucy Charles came 35th overall.
11. Another Kona first saw the men’s winner propose to his girlfriend after crossing the finish line. Within a minute of finishing, Lange got down on one knee and proposed to Julia Hoffmann – she said yes!
12. Kyle and Brent Pease became the first push-assisted team of brothers to cross the finish line, and only the second pair in that category to complete the race. For the swim, Brent towed his brother in a boat, then completed the bike leg in a specially adapted bike before running with his brother in a specially adapted running chair. The last team to do so was father Dick and son Rick Hoyt in 1999. The Peases finished in a time of 14:29hrs.
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13. GB’s Liz McTernan became only the second female wheelchair participant to complete Kona, and now holds the course record of 14:21:12. McTernan competed in the ‘Physically Challenged’ or PC Division, using a hand bike for 180km and a racing wheelchair for the marathon.
Congratulations #TeamCAF athlete @lizmcternan! Liz crossedthe finish line at #IMKONA as the 2nd wheelchair woman to ever finish the @IRONMANtri World Championship. AND she now holds the course record for fastest time.
American rapper A$AP Rocky was freed from a Swedish jail on Friday pending a verdict in his trial. President Trump tweeted shortly after the ruling that the rapper “is on his way home to the United States,” although it wasn’t immediately clear from the judge’s decision if he could leave the country.
Mr. Trump had sought earlier to personally intervene on the rapper’s behalf, a move rebuffed by Sweden’s leader. On Friday Mr. Trump tweeted, “It was a Rocky Week, get home ASAP A$AP!”The rapper issued a statement on Instagram later Friday night thanking supporters.Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, is accused with two others of beating a 19-year-old man in Stockholm on June 30.
A Swedish court has ruled that the three suspects can be freed from detention until the verdict is announced Aug. 14. Mayers entered a plea of not guilty on Tuesday. Prosecutor Daniel Suneson said in his closing comments on Friday that he was seeking a six-month sentence for the rapper, who himself had said earlier Friday that community service would be a proper punishment.A witness in the A$AP Rocky assault case revised her story from initial police reports, testifying Friday that she didn’t actually see Mayers hitting a man with a bottle.Whether or not 19-year-old Mustafa Jafari, who got into an argument with Mayers’ entourage in Stockholm, was hit with parts or a whole bottle has become one of the key issues at the trial. Both women who testified Friday maintained their previous statements to police that they saw Mayers and his partners beating and kicking Jafari. But one of the women recanted what she witnessed with the bottle. She said she heard the bottle being crushed, though she couldn’t say whether Mayers’ entourage threw the bottle to the ground or hit Jafari with it.
It’s not often swim, bike and run makes football play second fiddle, but there are more spectators here for the inaugural Dubrovnik Triathlon than attended the Croatia v England international – 400 miles north along the Adriatic coast in Rijeka – the previous evening. And given this is a football-obsessed nation whose national team reached the World Cup final, it’s a victory to be celebrated for multisport. (We can gloss over both who they beat in the semi-final and that this recent encounter was played behind closed doors.)
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Triathlon is a new sport in a city famed for its Old Town. Named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979, its siege by Serbian and Montenegrin soldiers became a focal point during the break-up of Yugoslavia in the early nineties, but having taken a pre-race trip inside the medieval bulwarks, I can report it’s now deluged by up to 10,000 tourists a day, disembarking cruise ships to roam its ramparts.
Part of the attraction is the baroque, renaissance and gothic architecture, but it’s also the phenomenon that is Game of Thrones, the fantasy television drama that was filmed here. Given I’ve never watched a second of the show, my pop culture references end here, but at least it’ll save you from laboured puns being crowbarred into the race report, such as Game of Triathlons (attempt a faux European accent and switch ‘ons’ for ‘owns’).
On to a less hectic affair than the Old Town – the race – and a sprint or standard distance option, starting from Gruz Harbour, with a transition zone neatly slotted between moored luxury yachts. It’s a 2pm start and the untriathlonly time is virtue of the organisers being given a one-hour window between the aforementioned hulking cruise liners docking and setting sail. After that strict deadline the port is back open for business, so there’s significant motivation to make the swim cut-off.
SCRIPTED DEBUT
The area is trying to carve its own niche in activity breaks. There’s a half-marathon here in April that finishes on the Stradun – Dubrovnik’s most famous limestone-paved street in the Old Town – and 60 miles away in Kotor, Montenegro, the Ocean Lava middle distance race takes place in May. It’s not a tricky place to get to and here we’ve 15 different nationalities, many from former Yugoslav republics, plus a scattering of Brits.
For a first-time event, it almost feels scripted. The weather is blissfully mid-20s, and the harbour water 21 degrees, making it just cool enough for novices (or those hellbent on winning) to wear a wetsuit. The bike course follows the coast to the small village of Komolac, and is both the prettiest dragstrip imaginable and seemingly the only flat stretch of road in the region. The run is out and back along the harbour edge where the most taxing element is keeping count of your laps.
As I’m about to plop in for the deep-water start, I try to recall the last time I undertook a standard-distance triathlon. My fumbling excuse is that my time has been better served agonising over topics for my 220 Triathlon column, although that’s probably best left for others to judge. Conclusion: “It’s been a while – and it’ll take a while.” And so it plays out.
The two-lap anticlockwise swim is rather too pleasant – not a jellyfish in sight (take note as an alternative race option for next year, Daniela Ryf). About 60 people have signed up for the standard distance, a similar number for the sprint, plus a handful of relay teams, and both the water and opposition are calmness personified. My only gripe is with the toddlers’ swim caps provided, as the silicon dome pings from my bonce about midway through the first lap, striking another blow to marine welfare.
Out on to the road bike (I’ve borrowed from the organisers) in 39mins (including T1, I’m sure it was long), I spend the majority of the four laps daydreaming at the scenery, reading the derrieres of tri-suits and wondering how they’re pronounced (my straw poll of waiters confirms the Croatian language is brutish to grasp), and hoping I’ll overtake someone who isn’t on a mountain bike. The tranquillity is occasionally broken when some lunatic on a TT bike and deep-dished wheels comes whooping past (my one piece of serious advice would be to pack a TT bike if you want to compete), but they pretty sharply bugger off into the distance anyway.
Returning 1:24hr later, I head out for a fairly uneventful run, where the sun beats down and I have to pass the finish gantry 11 times (yes, I just worked it out), before I can actually jog under the arch in 45mins for a less-than-competitive 2:49:32 and just sneak into the top 30.
CRUISES, COFFEE AND CRAP CANNONS
My race aside, the Dubrovnik Triathlon has a lot going for it. No matter how many risk assessments are undertaken, first-time events are fraught with the potential for unforeseen hiccups. It’s compounded when a venue is not au fait with triathlon, and judging by the motorists in the town, it will be a while before a cycling culture takes off.
Yet enthusiasm – and Dubrovnik has a two-year-old 20-strong tri club getting behind it – can go a long way. It also helps when you bring in John Lunt and Co, the team behind the successful Brighton and Hove Tri, with Lunt formerly triathlon course manager for the London 2012 Olympics. So, while I’m sure there are a few teething issues, they’re well-hidden and certainly no disasters.
It isn’t just the finishing chute where the red (ok, blue) carpet has been rolled out either. There’s a familiarisation swim at Banje Beach the morning before the race – the reward being free coffee and doughnuts bigger than lifebuoys – and a triathletes’ reception in Sponza Palace in the Old Town in the evening where a welcoming British consul informs us it’s British week in Dubrovnik, although the Beatles tribute act crooning in the main square in front of a London bus was already a slight giveaway.
Post-race there’s an awards party offering a bellyful of pasta and apple strudel, a few tunes and a live stream of the Ironman World Championship, jellyfish and all, on the big screen. Then it’s all aboard for a cruise around the bay at 9am the following morning in a replica 16th-century Karaka, which, for all intents and purposes is a pirate ship with crap cannons, air-conditioning and cappuccinos.
TICKS THE 2019 BOXES
Given there are so many options on the racing calendar, does Dubrovnik deserve its place on your itinerary next year? There are races that offer a calm wetsuit-optional sea swim, there are others that provide closed bike courses that are flat and safe for novices, and still more that provide a scenic backdrop.
You can also find affordable races (£65/£50 for the standard/sprint distance) within a two-hour EasyJet flight of the UK, where you have a choice of accommodation from luxury hotels to affordable AirBnBs, and some also offer plenty of cultural options when you strip off the Lycra. But a destination that ticks all those boxes is a challenge, and that’s where the Dubrovnik Triathlon wins out.
The late Lord Bryon called the city the Pearl of the Adriatic. It’s less known that he’s also credited for starting the modern age of open-water swimming in 1810. I’ve a feeling that if he were still alive today, the legendary poet would be first in the queue to slip on his race belt… because this is one event you Don Juan a miss.
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You can fly to Dubrovnik with Easy Jet
The Hong Kong protests have reached Disney. The hashtag #BoycottMulan is trending worldwide after “Mulan” star Liu Yifei voiced support for the police crackdown in Hong Kong this week.
Crystal Liu Yifei, the well-known Chinese-American actress starring in Disney’s upcoming live-action “Mulan” remake, expressed support for the city’s police on social media. “I support the Hong Kong police. You can all attack me now,” she posted on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform where Yifei has nearly 66 million followers. “What a shame for Hong Kong.”
She shared the message along with a Chinese propaganda post supporting the police crackdown on mass anti-government protests in Hong Kong. She also used the hashtag, “IAlsoSupportTheHongKongPolice” and added a heart emoji and a strong arm emoji. The actress received support on Weibo, but the backlash was immediate on Twitter and Instagram, which are blocked in China. Twitter users around the world accused the actress of supporting police brutality. The Walt Disney Company did not immediately respond to CBS News’ request for comment. Months of protests by pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong have led to repeated clashes with the city’s security forces. The tension boiled over this week as protesters swarmed Hong Kong’s busy airport and shut it down two days in a row. That was just the latest development in a summer of fierce demonstrations that began in June against a proposed extradition law that would have allowed some criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China to stand trial. While the government has since suspended the bill, protesters have pressed on with broader calls for democratic reforms and an investigation into alleged police brutality.On Tuesday, United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet urged Hong Kong authorities to investigate what she called “credible evidence” suggesting law enforcement officers had fired tear gas at protesters in ways that violate international law. Videos have emerged showing police firing gas and beanbag rounds at close range.
They have multiple established kayak, bike and run races in Ireland, but now the Quest Adventure Series race organisers have confirmed their first UK race for 2019.
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Quest Wales will be staged in the surroundings of Snowdonia National Park, and challenges athletes to trail run, bike and kayak their way across the mountains of North Wales.
Set for Saturday 8 June 2019, Quest Wales is targeted at all fitness levels and abilities, and athletess have the option of three scenic routes; 25km Challenge, 42km Sport or 53km Expert.
– The 25km Challenge consists of: 8km road bike/1km kayak/6km run/10km road bike.
– The 42km Sport is: 6km trail run/13km road bike/1km kayak/11km trail run/11km road bike.
– The 53km Challenge is: a 6km trail run/13km road bike/1km kayak/11km trail run/15km road bike/7km run.
Kayaks are provided as part of your entry fee and bikes are available to hire at an additional cost.
Oliver Kirwan, Race Director at Quest Adventure Series, says: “Even if you’ve only done a 10k previously, you can do this! Just bring your sense of adventure and we’ll provide the atmosphere and an unforgettable experience. A lot of our participants sign-up as part of a team and adventure races are a great excuse to plan a weekend away with friends and like-minded people to work hard and then, play hard too.”
Quest Wales is part of the Quest Adventure Series which encompasses a number of one-day adventure races across Ireland in Killarney, Kenmare, Glendalough and Achill, which attracted over 8,000 participants in 2018.
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Entries for Quest Wales start at £68.00 and you can register at https://www.questadventureseries.com/race/quest-wales/
The new 70.3 race is to take place on October 27 2019, and athletes will take in many of the famous monuments and landmarks historic Marrakech is famous for, including the Medina of Marrakech, the Bahia Palace, the Madrasa, the Koutoubia Mosque and Minaret, the Jemaa el-Fnaa Square and the Majorelle Garden.
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“It is a dream come true that the iconic and internationally acclaimed competition, the Ironman 70.3 triathlon, will be held for the first time in the Maghreb by Morocco,” said Simo Azelarab, President of NAPECO and event organiser. “This event is sure to attract athletes from across the globe and will inspire Moroccan athletes to compete in one of the most personally-satisfying endurance challenges in the world.”
The triathletes will begin their race with a single-loop 1.2-mile (1.9 km) swim in Lake Lalla Takerkoust, before embarking on the 56-mile (90 km) cycling course, which winds through the Berber village of Tahanaout and the green meadows of the Ourika Valley with the snow-capped Atlas Mountain peaks as a backdrop. The two-loop 13.1-mile (21 km) run takes place in the heart of the Red City where athletes will pass historical monuments such as the Koutoubia Mosque and Minaret.
The race concludes in the iconic Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan, providing a never-to-be-forgotten finish for those racing in Marrakech.
“Marrakech is one of Morocco’s most memorable experiences. It shines by its exceptional cultural and natural heritage,” added Azelarab. “Visitors can either immerse themselves in the history of this city through its various monuments, palaces, museums and wonderful gardens or discover its various avant-garde and cosmopolitan places. October in Marrakech is also a month of blissful equilibrium after the heat of the summer, leaving idyllic racing conditions for the athletes.”
The Ironman 70.3 Marrakech triathlon will offer 30 age-group qualifying slots for the 2020 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship Taupō, New Zealand taking place on November 28-29, 2020.
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Visit www.ironman.com/marrakech70.3 for more information.
Moscow — Kremlin-backed candidates lost almost half of their seats in the 45-member Moscow City Council on Sunday. The result was a blow for the Kremlin in a highly controversial election that sparked mass protests this summer as most opposition politicians were banned from even competing.
While still retaining a majority of 25 seats in the council, politicians allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin lost as many as 13 seats to members of the Communist Party, three to members of “A Just Russia” party and four to members of the liberal Yabloko party. With many opposition candidates barred from running, opposition leader Alexei Navalny had urged his supporters to follow the Smart Voting strategy his team came up with earlier this year and vote for candidates with the best chance of beating their pro-Kremlin opponents.Candidates for the Communist Party, A Just Russia, and Yabloko who won seats on Sunday were on the list of politicians endorsed under the opposition’s Smart Voting initiative.
“This is a fantastic result,” Navalny wrote on Facebook Monday morning. “We fought for it together. Thank you everyone!”According to Navalny ally Lyubov Sobol, who was among the opposition members barred from even running, the sole purpose of the Smart Voting plan was to deprive the government-backed candidates of as many seats as possible.Sobol told CBS News that some candidates endorsed by Smart Voting had said they were prepared to work with the opposition. “Of course the authorities will try and do everything they can to prevent them from working with us, but there are candidates we’re in touch with that are ready to work with us in the interests of Muscovites,” she said.Moscow authorities decided to ban opposition candidates from running in the election in the summer, for dubious reasons including claims that some had petitioned to run using signatures of people who didn’t exist or had died. Many of the allegedly dead or non-existent individuals came forward to prove their signatures were legitimate. When Russia’s national election commission signed off on the bans anyway, it triggered mass protests in late July.Thousands of people took to the streets every Saturday for five weeks in a row.Only two of five major rallies were authorized by Moscow city officials, and three were violently broken up by riot police. More than 2,500 people were arrested during the protests, and several dozen sustained injuries as the police used batons and, reportedly, tasers.
Sixteen protesters were charged with organizing mass riots and assaulting police officers, criminal offenses punishable by up to eight and five years in prison respectively. The charges against five of them were dropped, and two others were released under house arrest with charges against them amended. Four protesters have already been convicted to between two and three-and-a-half years in prison.Political analysts called the protests and arrests an unprecedented political crisis. Defusing that crisis was largely expected to hinge on the results of the vote, which were announced on Monday morning – and how the opposition would interpret them.
“It is one thing if the dominating emotion is the joy of victory, and a completely different thing if it’s the bitterness of losing,” Abbas Gallyamov, a former Kremlin speechwriter-turned independent political strategist, told CBS News before the results were in. “There won’t be any more protests if it’s the former, just celebrations,” he predicted. On Monday afternoon, Navalny published a post on his website titled “Victory,” followed by several equally triumphant statements from his allies. He promised to work on improving the Smart Voting strategy for future campaigns. So while the protest season in Moscow may be over, the opposition appears to have a new, now-proven strategy.
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After 157 days at sea and 1,792 miles of swimming, 33-year old Ross Edgley today became the first person to swim around the UK coast — breaking several world records into the bargain — and 220 were there to share the moment with him.
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Finishing on 4th November, the swim has had some highs and some lows that really captured the world’s imagination – most of us will by now be familiar with the horrors of salt tongue, jellyfish attacks and zombie feet – as well as amazing records broken, the sealife that has swum with him, the famous ‘banana count’ and (perhaps most memorably) Edgley’s irrepressible enthusiasm for an endurance event many believed was impossible.
True to form, the finish was nothing short of spectacular and today 220 Triathlon were lucky enough to join 300 open-water swimmers who took to the water to meet Ross 750m from the shore in Margate and bring him home as part of a flotilla of swimmers.
The swimmers (most in wetsuits, but some in skins in the 11 degree water!) met Ross alongside his boat and crew and with an appearance from the Red Bull Matadors display team, an emotional group made their way to the finish on the beach in Margate, where Ross swam the final few metres ahead of everyone else to individually finish his world-record swim alone and make his way on to dry land for the first time in 157 days. There, hundreds of supporters met him including Ironman triathlete Lucy Charles and SAS: Who Dares Wins’ Ant Middleton, both of who advised him during his training.
Ross Edgley exits the final swim of his world record swim around the UK coast. Image: 220/Gavin Parish
Once out of the water we managed to grab a hug and 10 minutes with Ross to find out how he’s feeling at the end of his epic journey:
220: Why did you decide to finish with 300 other swimmers?
It was just nuts, wasn’t it? This is why the open-water swimming and triathlon community are so special – and maybe it’s something about Britain as well – but if you said to anyone else in any other sport “it’s Sunday morning, there’s this guy swimming in to shore, you’ve never met him before, but do you want to get up and swim with him? It’s going to be really cold…?” they’d probably say no! But in this sport everyone was like: “Sure!”
We had guys in skins out there, we had some amazing Channel swimmers with us and we had the Royal Marines guiding everyone in… It’s hard to explain how I felt in that moment but you were there, you saw it! I had to remove my goggles at one moment, I got so choked up.
That was the best way for the swim to finish as well. Having everyone there, that massive group hug in Margate when we were all clambering all over each other… I couldn’t have asked for anything else. It was the best way to end and it was just amazing.
220 Editor Helen Webster joined Ross as part a group of 300 swimmers for the final swim into Margate. Image: 220/Gavin Parish
220: Has that sense of community been important in this challenge?
It was never my moment and it was never an individual sport. From the outset this was a team effort. For example with the salt tongue, my tongue was literally falling apart and the community of open-water swimmers and triathletes helped with advice and help! It was really nice getting that support – they’d say “oh wetsuit chafing, here’s what I’d do”, or “your tongue is falling apart? Here’s a homemade remedy”.
220: How are you feeling now you’ve completed the swim and are back on dry land?
I like to talk and it’s nice to see people! I’ve had the company of minke whales and dolphins and they don’t talk much! I met one lady today who was going to swim the channel but she’s been diagnosed with cancer, so is going to get treatment and try again next year – hearing stories like that is just amazing.
When you do something like this it brings people together, just the crazy nature of it. I don’t know why! It just brings the very best people together. There’s one person that came all the way from America! We asked him if he had any family in Margate, but he was like: “nope. I’m just here for the swim!” He came from America and is flying home tonight, that’s just amazing. I had to be pulled away from him, I would still be there with him and with everyone else taking selfies!
220: What else helped you get through the swim?
The team too, for sure. Me and Matt got quite choked up last night. The sense of humour that you develop to try and get through something like this is quite something. Last night we watched the sun set and we were talking about how he’d bought 5kg of Vaseline with him for the swim… So much lube… and I’d said we were never going to need it all, but we got through 4kg! That’s the statistic from the swim that I’m most proud of!
Towards the end he’s putting Vaseline on my neck and helping me into my wetsuit and I just whispered “I’ve never really been chafing, I just like these moments together…” and he’s just rolling around in stitches laughing. There was this constant weird sense of humour, that you will only get when you do things like this. Open-water swimmers will understand, it just bonds you in strange ways!
Ross with Ironman pro Lucy Charles. Full interview with Lucy to follow online later this week! Image: 220/Gavin Parish
220: Now you’re on dry land, what are you most looking forward to?
I just want to be warm! The Great British Swim strips you back to your most basic human needs. I haven’t been warm in 157 days so now I just want to be toasty. I wouldn’t mind sweating, I mean, I haven’t sweated in 157 days! People ask if there’s anything else and I’m like “no, just warmth!” I’ve got socks on now and that feels nice! It sounds cheesy, but I just want family and friends – and to be warm. Barbeques too, maybe. I missed out on a summer of barbeques…
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To read the full interview with Ross Edgley where he opens up more about finishing the Great British Swim, how his body has been affected and what his next challenge will be, check out issue 359 of 220 Triathlon, on sale 29th November 2018.
Lucy Charles talks Ross Edgley, Kona 2018 and the magic powers of chocolate brownies…
The happy throng: Swimmers get ready to escort Ross over his last mile – 220’s Helen is in there somewhere…
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Swimmers leave him to make the final yards on his own as the realisation he has actually done it, sinks in.
Those final magic moments as @RossEdgley completed the #GreatBritishSwim